[Chapter-delegates] TikTok Ban. How should ISOC respond?

[Dr. Joseph Lorenzo Hall]

> If we as a
> technical community continue to stick our heads in the sand and only
> file legal amicus briefs and not come up with technical solutions

I disagree.

Legal interventions are a key tool that the technical community uses to make sure its perspective is known to the Courts, from the IANA transition [1] through many hundreds if not thousands of cases around the world. And I don’t think it’s correct to characterize this work as sticking our heads in the sand, or any of the work the ISOC community and partners have done to counter Internet fragmentation (this has been one of my areas of work for the past five years since I joined, so I may be overly sensitive).

If you have a technical solution or even a sketch of one that could thread the needle, that would be great as that has been an important thread in the US debate with respect to Tiktok (e.g., project Texas). I’m not sure what more generic technical solutions you have in mind to counter fragmentation but please elaborate.

Best, Joe

[1]: https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2016/iana-amicus-brief/

--
JLH, Internet Society, hall at isoc.org<mailto:hall at isoc.org> ( https://josephhall.org/ )


From: Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org> on behalf of Hank Nussbacher via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 01:20
To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] TikTok Ban. How should ISOC respond?
On 10/12/2024 2:31, Dan York via Chapter-delegates wrote:

I know everyone is against Internet fragmentation, including myself but
allow me to state an alternative view.
Governments have asked the technical community to self-police itself,
yet we always wave our hands and say something like "but every 10 year
old can use a VPN".  Tiktok has been on the radar of governments for years:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/tiktok-risks-pushing-children-towards-harmful-content/
https://www.adl.org/resources/article/sliding-through-spreading-antisemitism-tiktok-exploiting-moderation-gaps
https://www.dearasianyouth.org/literature/article/the-toxicity-of-tiktok
https://www.uottawa.ca/about-us/information-technology/services/security/tiktok-use-privacy-risks

So what do some governments do when we as a technical community fail in
our job?  Look to Australia as a case in point.
Look to this US ban winding its way through courts.  If we as a
technical community continue to stick our heads in the sand and only
file legal amicus briefs and not come up with technical solutions, we
very well might see a tsunami of efforts like these that will truly
fragment the Internet.

Regards,
Hank

>
>
>> On Dec 9, 2024, at 9:07 AM, Dr. Joseph Lorenzo Hall via
>> Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>>
>> We are closely monitoring the current situation in the USA,
>> particularly since TikTok may appeal to the US Supreme Court.
>
> I’ll note that this continues to unfold with TikTok filing an
> emergency motion today for an injunction to stop the law from taking
> effect while they appeal to the US Supreme Court:
>
> - BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yx7e2lx3yo
> - TikTok:
> https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/tiktok-files-emergency-motion-for-injunction
>
>
> The US Department of Justice of course filed a letter saying that the
> appeals court should reject the injunction request.
>
> TikTok’s full filing is interesting reading for those wanting to dive
> into detail:
> https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.40861/gov.uscourts.cadc.40861.1208687888.0.pdf
>
>
> As far as the next steps, the filing from TikTok includes this
> information:
> ——
> Petitioners respectfully request a decision no later than December 16,
> 2024, to ensure time to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court
> if necessary. The parties have agreed on the following schedule:
> Petitioners filed this motion by 10:00 a.m. on December 9; the
> Government will file any response by December 11; Petitioners will
> file any reply by December 12.
> ——
> So if the DC Court of Appeals goes along with that request, there
> should be a decision about the injunction by next Monday.  This would
> presumably determine whether TikTok has more time (if injunction is
> granted) for an appeal to the US Supreme Court, or if they need to
> make an emergency appeal.
>
> Not-a-lawyer-but-watching-with-fascination,
> Dan
>
> --
> *Dan York*, Senior Advisor  |  Internet Society
> york at isoc.org | +1-603-439-0024 | https://mastodon.social/@danyork
>

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